| Had you dropped in on
us at Republic Polytechnic’s Tanglin
campus on 2 Dec, the twenty odd people
on Level 3 of Strathmore Block would have
seemed like model students in a baking
class. The Chief Baker, Mr Glen O’Grady,
usually known as Deputy Director of Educational
Development, was expounding in great earnest,
the intricacies of baking after a painstaking
effort to explain its little known history.
His students, no less earnest, were engaged
in careful note-taking, anxious not to
miss out any of the guru’s pearls
of wisdom.
The truth of course, is nothing remotely
culinary. This is Republic Polytechnic,
champion of PBL (Problem Based Learning).
Glen was actually giving a demonstration
on how complicated the notion of learning
was. The answers could be very varied for
different people but teachers need to address
this issue which is fundamental to the
whole process of writing learning objectives,
which in turn is crucial to creating problem
statements. The point he made was clear.
Giving students a recipe and asking them
to bake a cake with it is far from learning.
So, the question remains: what is learning?
This profoundly important question and
a host of others were dealt with by Prof
Alwis, Academic Affairs Director and Glen
during the first PBL Seminar for Teachers
from Dec 2-5. It came about at the request
of teachers who were keen on finding out
how PBL could be adapted for Interdisciplinary
Project Work in schools. What did they
come away with?
First, teachers at the seminar recognized
that before IPW can be carried out meaningfully,
key concepts which students need to consolidate
have to be identified. This was dealt with
at length in the second day by Prof Alwis,
who with Renaissance vigour, illustrated
how key concepts in Mathematics and the
Sciences could be embedded in the project
work set by teachers for students at different
levels. Second, teachers learnt that, as
facilitators, they play multiple roles.
The teacher is an instructor, a neutral
facilitator, a participant, opposition,
a committed instructor, an interviewer,
an observer, even an absent leader. This
requires flexibility and an enormous reserve
of energy. Finally, teachers came away
convinced that the excitement of multidisciplinary
projects makes the tremendous amount of
work involved in carrying out IPW entirely
worthwhile. One just has to look at the
way Prof Alwis lit up when he responded
to suggested topics ranging from shoes,
food, to Singlish and gender differences
in learning. Instantly, connections were
made between ideas in Mathematics, Physics,
Chemistry, Biology, Home Economics, English,
History and many other subjects which one
had never thought of before the seminar.
One participant remarked that Prof Alwis
should have written a book about his amazing
ideas!
At the end of the four days, it was evident
that learning, which in the best sense
of the word includes faith in knowledge,
sharing what one knows and a qualitative
change in the way one looks at the world,
has taken place. The two trainers received
heartfelt thanks and a warmly-worded card
on the last day of the first seminar. In
the meantime, plans were being made for
the next training programme to continue
the Republic Polytechnic’s tradition
of meaningful participation in schools’ educational
processes.
(If you are keen to find out more, please
refer to our letter of invitation to all
school teachers to participate in the coming
event on 25 Jan 03 – PBL Training
Programme for Teachers.)
© Sep 2002, Republic Polytechnic.
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